Italy tax police check Facebook's books

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Last Updated: Fri, Dec 07, 2012 18:15 hrs

Italian tax police have visited Facebook's Milan offices to check the books of the social networking site, part of the country's crackdown on tax evasion that has targeted Google's Italian operations as well.

Facebook Italy issued a statement Friday saying it pays taxes in Italy and takes its tax obligations here "very seriously." It added it works "closely with tax authorities in every country to ensure we are compliant with the local law" and pledged to cooperate "with the investigation of the Italian tax authority."

Last week, the Italian Treasury said Google had had undeclared earnings of €240 million ($311 million) from 2002-2006, as well as unpaid value added tax of €96 million. Google says it's working with Italian authorities on the audit.